Kenneth E. Melson is the former acting director of the

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and preve ...

(ATF) in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. He was appointed to this post by Attorney General

Eric Holder Eric Himpton Holder Jr. (born January 21, 1951) is an American lawyer who served as the 82nd Attorney General of the United States from 2009 to 2015. Holder, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama, was the first African Amer ...

in 2009. He resigned as head of the ATF in the aftermath of the

ATF gunwalking scandal Gunwalking, or "letting guns walk", was a tactic used by the Arizona U.S. Attorney's Office and the Arizona Field Office of the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which ran a series of sting operations betw ...

and was replaced by B. Todd Jones, a former Marine who has twice served as the U.S. attorney in Minnesota.

Career

Prior to joining the Department of Justice, Melson served in the Arlington County (Virginia) Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office from April 1975-June 1983. Melson joined the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office as an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney in April 1975. In January 1978, he was promoted to a managerial position as the Chief Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington County. In July 1980, Melson was again promoted to the position of Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington County, a position in which he served until June 1983. Melson served in the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

as a federal prosecutor for nearly 24 years, joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia in June 1983 as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. In June 1986, Melson was asked to serve in a senior leadership position at the office as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney. Additionally, Melson also served as the Interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia on three separate occasions: July 1991-October 1991; March 1993-September 1993; and April 2001-September 2001. From 2003 to 2004 he was President of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and served as a member of its Ethics Committee and of the editorial board for the Journal of Forensic Sciences. Melson was appointed by Attorney General

Alberto Gonzales Alberto R. Gonzales (born August 4, 1955) is an American lawyer who served as the 80th United States Attorney General, appointed in February 2005 by President George W. Bush, becoming the highest-ranking Hispanic American in executive governme ...

as Director of the

Executive Office for United States Attorneys The Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA) is the office within the Department of Justice that provides executive and administrative support for the 93 United States Attorneys located throughout the 50 states, District of Columbia, ...

(EOUSA) at the Department of Justice effective on May 14, 2007. After Melson resigned as head of the ATF on August 30, 2011, he continued being employed by the US Department of Justice, re-assigned to the Office of Legal Policy as their Senior Adviser on Forensic Science. He currently serves on the Ethics Committee for the American Academy of Forensic Science and sits on the editorial board of the Journal of Forensic Sciences. Melson has been teaching at George Washington University for 35 years, first as an Adjunct Professor teaching forensic science and law courses, and currently as Professional Lecturer at Law.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melson, Kenneth E. Directors of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Denison University alumni George Washington University alumni George Washington University faculty

Career

See also

References